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Siege of Fort Yronguard
The Siege of Fort Yronguard was a siege that lasted thirteen days and was concurrent to the Siege of Blackwater Keep. The defenders were largely loyal to the House of Cheswick, but all who served at the Fort had been garrisoned there previously; no forces of Arthur Chesiwkc who survived the Battle of Lullen stayed at the fort. Background The Spring Offensive was launched earlier that week and the Siege of Fort Yronguard had largely followed the decisive Battle of Lullen. The Stromic forces were on the run, though their forces were far from defeated as the Houses of Cheswick and Derry did not raise more than a third of their overall strength. Aleksy the Terrible began to siege Blackwater Keep, but knew that Fort Yronguard was a prize required as it guarded a major pass that led to Hammerfell; with Fort Yronguard, he would be able to better transport supplies needed if the campaign became prolonged. Giving Lieutenant Drasko command of a third of his forces, he commanded that Fort Yronguard be taken and then the forces would reunite at Blackwater Keep in order to finish off the forces of the House of Derry. On the flipside, Arthur Cheswick and his surviving forces from the Battle of Lullen briefly stopped at Fort Yronguard. Knowing that the Forsaken were coming, he left Sir Richard Dally to the defense of Fort Yronguard to stall as long as possible. He also allowed any soldier from Fort Yronguard to leave if they wished as he doubted the Forsaken would have any mercy on the defenders. Arthur Cheswick pulled further back to Tewksberry and began to raise more troops. Course of Siege Day One Arriving early in the day, Lieutenant Drasko immediately drew up the lines of battle and surrounded the Fort. As the Fort was protected on two sides by the mountains, Drasko was easily able to surround the fort with what forces he had. However, this also meant that the defenders were able to defend the walls more easily. Deciding bombardment and crossbowmen fire to soften the walls was the best option, Drasko immediately began to set up his catapults and crossbowmen. He elected not to bombard on the first day, rather allowing his horns to sound throughout the day and night. These horns would sound each day in order to keep the defenders awake as much as possible. Day Two Early in the morning the bombardment began. With the intention of opening a gap in one wall and weakening the defenders, Drasko focused all attention of his artillery on one section of the wall while setting up his forces to defend the artillery at all costs; on the opposite wall, Drasko allowed his forces to build engines that would protect the crossbowmen while they approached. No serious casualties were caused. Day Three The Forsaken bombardment continues. Sir Richard Dally knew it was only a matter of time before the siege engines did their work. Thus, he assigned twenty good men on horseback to sally out and attempt to set fire to the catapults. The sally was a drastic failure, with all twenty men dying in the attempt. Day Four The Forsaken bombardment continues; the wall begins to weaken. The crossbowmen begin to soften up the defenders on the wall, killing approximately ten or so. Day Five The Forsaken bombardment continues Day Six The Forsaken bombardment continues; walls begin to crumble. Day Seven The Forsaken bombardment continues; opening in the wall begins Day Eight On the eighth day the wall in the Fort is finally large enough to begin assaults. Drasko continues to bombard for the remainder of the day. Day Nine Drasko divides up his forces into shock, main assault, and rearguard. Knowing that the defenders were going to die attempting to keep the Forsaken from entering, Drasko begins by screening the charge of his shock forces with crossbowmen, lining them up and softening the defenders they could see. The shock forces were cut down almost immediately; while it seemed they made great gains, it is only because Sir Richard Dally allowed them to funnel in before cutting them all down. These seventy-five or so Forsaken all died in the attempt. Drasko, knowing he had been outplayed, ceased all bombardment and allowed a brief respite. Day Ten, Eleven, and Twelve Drasko took the morning to determine exactly what it was he needed to do. After losing seventy-five soldiers and knowing a majority of the Stromic forces remained, he began to bombard the fort heavily in order to properly kill or injure their forces. In the ensuing three days, Forsaken bombardment killed more than one-hundred fifty Stromic soldiers. Day Thirteen Satisfied with the three days of constant bombardment, Drasko ordered the rest of his forces through the breach in order to take the Fort -- with him leading the assault. Sir Richard Dally, rallying what was left of his forces, fought as desperate and hard battle against the Forsaken with each Stromic soldier killing two Forsaken for every one of them that died. Sir Richard Dally dueled Lieutenant Drasko, but both commanders perished. The Forsaken put every Stromic soldier to the sword as none of them surrendered. Aftermath The Stromic forces of Fort Yronguard provided a valiant defense of their fortifications. Though all the Stromic forces were slaughtered, more than three hundred Forsaken were killed in the ensuing assaults. Sergeant Mihailo took command after Drasko was killed. He left one hundred soldiers behind to repair the fort, taking the remaining one-hundred-fifteen soldiers back to Blackwater Keep with their siege engines to aid in the taking of the fortress. Category:Battles Category:Kingdom of Stromgarde Category:Forsaken Category:Mynydd Category:Human